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It’s a bit like “Kill Bill” mixed with “Salt” and “Lucy” and a dozen other Hollywood productions that have femme fatales as their central characters. And like most Hollywood flicks that feature female assassins, Netflix’s latest release “Kate” is stylish, fast, violent and centers on betrayal as its main theme.

Such a cliché if you ask me, when some of the most dangerous women on earth have to be scorned at first to unleash their wrath upon men. It’s like they have to be brutally betrayed every time to find a purpose in life. Personally, I find this approach to filmmaking crudely reductionist and overused. 

Still, the American action thriller Kate is a fast-paced visual delight that’ll keep you entertained much more than the Hindi-language anthology “Ankahi Kahaniya” which was my initial choice for the review. But as its name suggests, the stories in “Ankahi Kahaniya” would have been best left untold. It’s a yawn-fest!

Now coming back to Kate, the movie is a commercial production that at times feels like one of those ‘fan-made’ trailers on YouTube which are created by cutting scenes from various movies and joining them in a sequence. So formulaic and unoriginal is Kate that you know who the actual villain is even before half-time. But there are elements that keep you entertained and not make you feel like you’ve not wasted your time. 

Also read: Shikara: Visually engaging but sans vision

Kate (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a deadly assassin who has been groomed from early childhood by her handler Varrick (Woody Harrelson). Even though she is a ruthless assassin, Kate and her agency have one understanding, one rule—they never kill a target with children nearby. But on one mission, Kate is forced to assassinate a high-ranking yakuza boss who is with his teenage daughter Ani (Miku Martineau).

Cut to almost a year later and Kate, haunted by her memories of terrorizing a young kid, decides to retire from her job. She discusses her retirement with Varrick, who is not very pleased with the decision but still agrees with her choice. But on her final mission to kill another yakuza boss Kijima (Jun Kunimura), Kate finds she is poisoned with a deadly substance called Polonium-204 which has no known antidote and she will die in the next 24 hours. What she does to find out who betrayed her and how she extracts revenge makes up the rest of the film. 

As reluctant as we are to give out spoilers, we’re sure more than half of our dedicated movie watchers have already guessed the finale. Directed by Cedric Nicolas-Troyan and written by Umair Aleem, Kate is rummaged into an old Hollywood mold and then adorned with modern glitters to make it acceptable for the current audiences.

The cinematography, editing and background score of the movie combine to make it an exciting package. Together, they make the action sequences, which make up almost 70 percent of the film, seem fresh and captivating. Actor Mary Elizabeth Winstead seems to have trained herself well to pull off the hand-to-hand fight sequences as well as sword- and gun-fights. As the titular character, Winstead gets the most screen time in the 1hr 46mins movie and is impressive for most parts. But there are times, mostly during emotional scenes, when the actor feels like she’s too tired to act because of all the action sequences she had to perform.

When the titular character gets the most screen time, the supporting actors, no matter how talented, lose their presence. This happens in Kate to veterans Woody Harrelson and Jun Kunimura. The characters performed by the two seasoned actors do not get much thought in writing and are underwhelming to say the least. The potential they carry as actors and the impact their characters could have had are somewhat lost in the fast-paced sequences and linear storytelling of Kate.

Who should watch it?

Kate is a Hollywood masala film and we know by experience that masala films always tend to get good audiences. So for people who don’t mind watching a repetitive storyline in return for some eye-catching action sequences, Kate is definitely an entertainer.

Rating: 2.5 stars
Genre: Action, thriller
Actors: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Woody Harrelson, Jun Kunimura
Director: Cedric Nicolas-Troyan

A historical fiction novel set in old Hollywood, ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ opens with rookie reporter Monique Grant being asked to interview the Hollywood star who has had a glamorous and somewhat scandalous life. Monique goes to meet Evelyn to get her story for Vivant, the magazine Monique works for under Frankie, an ambitious and ruthless editor. But Evelyn tells her she isn’t interested in a magazine cover—that it was just a ruse to get to Monique. Rather, she wants to tell Monique her life story that Monique is free to publish as an authorized biography once Evelyn is no longer around.  

The book’s primary narrator is Evelyn, interspersed with Monique’s voice here and there. She takes us through her life—from her foray into Hollywood in the 50s to eventually winning the Oscars in the 80s. We get to know each of her seven husbands and her one true love, Celia St. James, while being enamored by the glitzy but often chaotic Hollywood life. But how does Monique fit into the picture? And why is Evelyn ready to bare her secrets to the world when she has done so much to protect those she loved and herself by putting up a façade for so long? It’s these two elements that don’t let you put the book down for long. You want to know what exactly drove Evelyn to keep remarrying despite being in love with Celia. You need to know what her plan is now that she is almost 80 and thus no longer guided by the same beliefs as during her younger days.

Reid is a master storyteller who knows what she is doing and is evidently in love with her craft. There are sentences that you want to keep rereading. It’s the smoothest prose I’ve read in a long, long time. I’m quite stingy with my five stars but this one was a winner through and through. There is never a dull moment in the story. Everything that happens feels important and gives you a complete sense of the characters and their emotions. You love and hate all the characters equally, just as you have a love-hate relationship with most of your closest ones. Even the ‘bad’ ones aren’t really bad. They are just human.

Reid shows us that everyone has flaws but nobody is really unredeemable—that a lot of times who you are depends on what your circumstances are at that moment, that you aren’t defined by any one thing but are rather a culmination of many different things, decisions, and emotions. She also addresses the issues of homophobia, racism, and sexism and does it with so much empathy that nothing feels forced or out of place. Bottom line: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a flawless book that will always have a special place in my heart.

Five stars 
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published: 2017
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Pages: 389, Paperback

The 2015-2020 period in the Nepali film industry was all about anthemic songs. Filmmakers spent a substantial chunk of the whole budget on one song and its music video, which would then go on to be bigger hits than the films themselves. Songs like “Purba Paschim Rail” from Chakka Panja, “Ye Daju Nasamau” from Chhakka Panja 2, “Parkha Parkha Mayalu” from Mangalam, “Thamel Bazar” from Loot 2, and many others became instant hits with millions of views on YouTube and thousands of airplay on radio and television.

The 2017 movie “Dui Rupaiyan” met with a similar fate. The movie’s OST “Kutu Ma Kutu”—with music by Rajan Raj Shiwakoti, and sung by Shiwakoti himself along with Melina Rai and Rajan Ishan—featuring actor Swastima Khadka, created history as one of the highest played Nepali music videos, with YouTube views crossing 150 million. The film, however, got the opposite response and blew cold.

Directed by Asim Shah of G21 Production, Dui Rupaiyan is an action-comedy that follows two friends Jureli (Nischal Basnet) and Dari (Asif Shah) and their adventures with a two-rupee note. The small-time crooks take up a smuggling job from Boss (Tika Pahari) who hands them a marked two-rupee bill which they are to exchange with illegal gold on the India-Nepal border.

On their way to the mission, the duo stops by for lunch at a local restaurant where Dari indulges in a chance tête-à-tête with the owner Maya (Menuka Pradhan). Unfortunately, their encounter is interrupted by Maya’s husband Bom Bahadur Tamang (Buddhi Tamang), a sub-inspector of police. They do manage to escape from the strict policeman and reach the rendezvous point on the Indo-Nepal border only to realize they have lost the two-rupee note and cannot get the goods in exchange. The duo then find themselves in deep mess with ASI Bom Bahadur on their tail and the Boss’s trusted aide Juddha (Prateek Raj Neupane) also looking for them, seeking blood. How Jureli and Dari manage to get themselves out of trouble makes up the rest of the film.

Dui Rupaiyan is a film full of goofball moments, unexpected conflicts and witty escapades. The fast-paced film races through and is fairly enjoyable through its 1hr 52mins run-time. But the fast pace that works in the film’s favor also works against it, not allowing the audience to grasp the crux of the story. Nor do they get to understand their characters in-depth and empathize with them when needed. This might be one reason the film failed to get much audience in the theaters when it was released.

Still, there is more to like about the film than not. Co-writer and actor Asif Shah seems to have put every effort in trying to make the lead characters memorable. Both Shah and Basnet, in the lead roles, fit the storyline like it was tailor-made for them. Only if the writers had been able to give them some more identifiable quirks and traits and a convincing backstory, both Jureli and Dari would have become sequel-worthy characters.

The film’s background score is another noteworthy accomplishment. Rohit Shakya and Shailesh Shrestha use multiple genres in the background to match the energy of the characters on- screen. The soundscapes they use add to the film’s visuals and make the mediocre cinematography more enjoyable. Another OST of the film, eponymously titled “Dui Rupaiyan,” featuring Aid Ray and Laure rapping to Shakya’s music, is hard and gives the climax, as well as the end, credits the necessary weight. 

Who should watch it?

“Dui Rupaiyan” is a movie you watch, enjoy and forget. The film did have an opportunity to create memorable moments but besides “Kutu Ma Kutu,” there is little to remember. Still, in its entirety, the film is entertaining for anyone who loves light-hearted action comedies. Also, compared to most films released between 2015 and 2020, Dui Rupaiyan fares too well to not watch.

Rating: 3 stars
Genre: Comedy/drama
Actors: Asif Shah, Nischal Basnet, Menuka Pradhan
Director: Asim Shah
Run time: 1hr 52mins

Some books are so hyped that when they let me down, I feel something must be wrong with me. Maybe I just didn’t get them? Perhaps my brain is the size of a shriveled raisin? Or was I distracted when reading, which I shouldn’t have been, and what does that say about me as a reader? These thoughts are discomfiting and, frankly, makes me feel a little stupid. I take a lot of time to bounce back and pick up another book when this happens. I don’t want the next one to disappoint as well and that’s a lot of pressure. I hate books that put me in this position and most recently it was ‘Where’d You Go, Bernadette’ by Maria Semple that got me all riled up.

I had high hopes, having heard so much about the book. Afterall, it had also been made into a movie starring Cate Blanchett. I searched for a physical copy despite having the e-book in my kindle. I was so sure it was going to be a great read and that I would want to see the spine on my bookshelf. From what I had heard and read, this was a fantastic story about a family trying to understand one another better and the power of a daughter’s undying love for her mother. I even thought I would enjoy the format in which it is written—a hodgepodge of emails, transcripts, invoices, school memos and even FBI reports.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette is the story of Bernadette Fox, a woman in her fifties who lives in Seattle with her husband, Elgin Branch, and their daughter, Bee, a high-school student. Once an acclaimed architect, Bernadette is now a recluse of sorts. She spends most of her time at home, coming out only to drop Bee off and pick her up from school. She’s not involved in any school activities like the other parents and is actually contemptuous of the ones who do. Then when Bee asks for a family trip to Antarctica for scoring perfect grades, Bernadette throws herself into the preparation only to disappear days before departure. Everyone thinks Bernadette broke under pressure but Bee is convinced there is more to it than meets the eye.

My problem with the story is that much of it is just about Bernadette being on the brink of a meltdown and how the town folks don’t like her much. It goes nowhere for more than half of the book—just pointlessly moving about in circles trying to establish a point that could have been made in a few chapters. It got a bit too much after a while. The emails and invoices felt gossipy. Semple was a television writer for 15 years and it’s evident that she still thinks like one. You had to piece together a story with the help of the various correspondences and, while that would have made for a fun read, Semple’s choppy narrative makes you lose interest pretty fast.

2 stars
Fiction
Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Maria Semple
Published: 2012
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Pages: 324, Paperback